Fort Hays State men's basketball evened its record in confererence play on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 6) by defeating Missouri Western 90-78 in Hays. The Tigers moved to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA with the win. The Griffons dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the MIAA.

Missouri Western held a small lead for a while early in the game, but Fort Hays State took the lead for good at the 12:23 mark of the first half on a Royce Williams 3-point field goal. The Tigers eventually led by 10 points at halftime, 42-32, as Craig Nicholson nailed a 3-point field goal with a few seconds remaining.

The Griffons cut the lead inside 10 points five times in the second half, but never pushed the margin inside of seven points. Fort Hays State's largest lead of the game was 15 with 3:34 to go, with the final margin eventually resting at 12 points.

Craig Nicholson had a great night shooting the ball, scoring a team-high 23 points and adding a team-best seven assists. He shot 8-of-9 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 at the free-throw line. He buried both 3-point field goal attempts he took. Nicholson was one of five Tigers to score in double figures.

Jake Stoppel finished with a double-double of 18 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. He was 8-of-10 from the field and a perfect 2-of-2 at the charity stripe. Dom Samac had 13 points, Achoki Moikobu had 12, and James Fleming added 11. The Tigers as a team shot 52.6 percent from the field and a red-hot 23-of-26 at the free-throw line (88.5 percent).

Ryan Devers led the Griffons with 21 points and seven assists. Cortrez Colbert added 12 points and Kevin Thomas had 11.

The Tigers have a pair of non-conference games at home before returning to MIAA play later in December. FHSU hosts Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday night (Dec. 8) at 7 pm, then hosts Bethany College on December 16 at 7:30 pm. The next conference game for FHSU will be on the road on December 20 at Northwest Missouri State.

University Bookstore Discount
For the game, Fort Hays State hit 7 3-point field goals. As a result, you can take advantage of a 21% discount at the University Bookstore all day Monday (Dec. 8).
Valid on 12/8/14 only.  May not be combined with any other offer. Valid in-store and on FHSU clothes and gift items only. Excludes textbooks, gift cards, diploma frames, previous purchases, calculators, computer supplies/hardware/software, and professional reference. Void where prohibited by law. See store for details. Discount is only available the next business day following a home double-header FHSU basketball game.
FHSU Virtual College students must enter the code phrase (Roll Tiges) in the comments section when finalizing your online purchase at: http://www.fhsushop.com